Conventionally, in industrial vehicles, such as wheel loaders and shovel loaders, an engine room is provided behind a driver's cab, and an engine, peripheral devices, and the like are disposed in the engine room. Examples of the peripheral devices include an air cleaner, an exhaust muffler, a hydraulic accumulator, a coolant sub-tank, and a hydraulic filter. These peripheral devices are provided at, for example, a front portion, upper portion, and rear portion in the engine room in accordance with the arrangement of the engine and the like.
For example, as shown in FIG. 8, in the case of a wheel loader 201 that is one example of the industrial vehicle, tires 202 are respectively provided at a front portion and rear portion of a chassis 203, and a driver's cab 204 is provided at a front-rear direction middle portion between the tires 202. A bucket 206 driven by a boom 205 is provided at the front portion of the chassis 203, and an engine room 207 is provided behind the driver's cab 204. An engine 208 is provided in the engine room 207. An air cleaner 209 and a muffler 210 are provided above the engine 208. A cooling room 212 defined by a dividing wall 211 is provided behind the engine 208, and a radiator 213 and a fan 214 are provided in the cooling room 212.
At the time of periodic inspections and maintenances, a worker needs to, for example, visually confirm and detach the peripheral devices of the engine. For example, in the case of the air cleaner, the worker needs to detach a filter when cleaning. In the case of the coolant sub-tank, the worker needs to visually confirm a coolant level. These inspections of the peripheral devices are performed by opening a cover of the engine room. Here, the workability of the inspections and maintenances of the peripheral devices provided at a small installation place inside the engine room may become low, and such inspections and maintenances may require a lot of time and work.
In a case where there is a deck extending rearward from a side portion of the driver's seat, an opening closed by a side cover provided at a side portion of the engine room may have to be provided at a position away rearward from the deck. In such a case, even in a case where the side cover is opened, the peripheral devices, such as the air cleaner and the hydraulic accumulator, provided in the engine room especially close to the driver's cab need to be inspected by putting a hand into a narrow space between the driver's cab and the engine through a rear side of the tire. Thus, the workability is extremely low, and a lot of time and work are required.
As this type of conventional art, there is a wheel loader in which: the cover of the engine room provided behind the driver's cab is constituted by a side cover configured to open and close in an upper-lower direction and a ceiling cover closing an upper surface of the engine room; and these covers are respectively supported by supporting members (see PTL 1, for example). In the case of this configuration, the inspections are performed by opening the side cover upward, but components, such as a gas spring, are necessary to open and close the side cover.